Without Love (Carl Grimes)
by Bayrin
Summary: Hope this wasn't a waste of time. :)
1. Chapter 1

I was in jail when it started. It being the zombie apocalypse. I didn't know what to think when they started evacuating the prison. I was 12 when it happened. I've survived the apocalypse using the rules from the movie _ZombieLand_. I know that's kinda lame, but it helps, more than your may think. I also have ADHD and I'm a control freak. Not the best attributes to have in this hell. Well, I'm 16 now and here's my adventure~

I just shot another fleshie. (That's what I call them.)

"Damn. That's the 20th one today." I mutter under my breath. I was reloading my gun when something pins me down.

"Drop the weapon." It says. I relax a little knowing that it's not a fleshie. I let go of the gun and a foot kicked it away. I growled a little.

"Shoot it again." I say as the handcuffs go on.

"Shoot what again?" The man asked. He has a thick accent. Weird. I roll my eyes and throw a knife in to the head of the fleshie I just killed. He put out his hand.

"Any more weapons I should know about?" I sigh and take one out of my boot, with difficulty.

"Why hit it again? You already killed it." He asked as we walked away, with my weapons in his bag.

"Double tap." I said while my eyes darted around to every noise that I heard. He grabbed the chain and led me to where he was staying at the time. I fidgeted while he was unlocking the handcuffs. A couple of people walked into the room. A boy around my age, a man with a crossbow, and a woman with a katana. What a peculiar bunch. The sheriff had me sit down in a chair and had the boy tie me up. I tapped my foot rapidly as my mind went a thousand miles a minute, thinking of how to escape. Apparently they were asking me questions because someone stepped on my foot. I looked up and saw the boy with a very annoyed facial expression.

"Hey. He asked you a question." He practically growled.

~~~~~ Carl's P.O.V ~~~~

Dad's been out for a while. I wonder what happened. We're out on a food run, Michonne, Daryll, Dad, and I. Michonne held out Big Kat bar.

"Wanna bet? I think he caught a deer." She said with a smile. I smirked.

"I bet he found someone." I know that it's a little far-fetched that he found a person, but him catching a deer is one too. Even Daryl played along.

"I think he caught a bird." We all started laughing until Dad came in with a girl. Michonne slipped the candy bar into the bag. We were all shocked that he actually did find someone. She was quite pretty, considering this world went to hell. She had long black hair with a fringe like mine, and she was fairly short compared to dad, so she reaches about my chest. Her eyes stood out the most. They were big, white-ish blue eyes. She was fidgeting a lot though and her eyes darted everywhere. Dad tried asking her a question, but he asked it 3 times. She looked like she was spacing out, so I had to bring her back down to Earth. I stepped on the foot she was rapidly tapping.

"Hey. He asked you a question." Her eyes snapped up to look me in the eyes and it seemed like she was analyzing me. I'm happy I know how to hold back a blush.

~~~~ Main Character's P.O.V. ~~~~

Woah. He looked really... Cute. My eyes darted around his face.

"Sorry. What was the question?" I asked as I bit my lip. My finger started tapping the chair.

"I asked, Who are you?" Sheriff said. I looked up at him.

"Prisoner 88356." My voice was soft since I didn't want to attract fleshies. The crossbow dude looked at me like I had two heads.

"Prisoner? What's your name?" Crossbow comes closer and I scooted backwards.

"D-Don't remember." I gulped. The Sheriff sighed a big sigh. I guess I was a huge bother to them.

"Did you belong to a group?" Katana lady asked. I shook my head.

"Nope. No groups. Always hiding." I said as my eyes drifted off to the window. I saw 5 or 6 fleshies coming towards the house. I turned back to them to find them discussing what to do with me.

"They're coming." They looked confused, so I jerked my head to the window. Their eyes widened. There was only 5 or 6, not like it's a herd. Then I looked back and saw loads more. So it is a herd. Dammit.

"It's a herd." The boy confirmed. I nod, getting scared.

"Daryl, Michonne. I need you two to board up the windows and I'll lock the doors and windows upstairs. Carl, there should be an attic, so untie her and question her for me." Carl nods and unties me. I run up the stairs with him in tow and we head up to the attic. I pull down the stairs and we head up. I sit down by window and he tilts his head to the side. I look around at anything but him and sits down in front of me, so now I have no choice but to look at him. Great. I fidget and rub my hands on my jeans, move my feet around and blink rapidly. Jeez. My nerves are getting the better of me. I was practically bouncing around, playing my rules over and over in my head. I was spaced out until he snapped his fingers in front of my face.

"What's with you and spacing out? And constantly fidgeting and stuff?" He asks and he scrunches up his nose a little. Heh. Cute.

"Well you see, it's called ADHD." I say while also sorting out things in my head. I see him nod and that brings me out of my thoughts.

"Well Prisoner 88356. Are you gonna kill us?" He asked. I looked at him in disbelief.(Forgot the rules so I'm making them up X3)

"No. Rule 43: Don't kill survivors." He nods.

"What if they're trying to kill you?"

"Rule 20: Kill anything that has a murderous intent." He smiles.

"So. 88356. What should I call you, because it's gonna get annoying calling you 88356 all the time." I smirk a little and nod.

"Uh, California." I say, remembering in _ZombieLand_ how you don't share your real name. He tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Why California?" I look out the window.

"Rule 29: Never give out your name. Besides, I wanna go there and I can't remember my name." I explain. Then everyone comes up. I jump a little when they pulled down the stairs.

"We secured the house, but we will stay up here until the herd passes." The sheriff explains. I walk over to the boxes and see which one is the heaviest. Once I find it, I lug it over to the stairs and place it on top.

"Rule 18: Always be prepared." I walk over to the window. "Rule 10: Always have an exit." I stick my head out and see a gap between the roof and the window. You would have to jump to get across and just barely make it. Better to make it safer, I put down a board and secure it. I left the window open. and sat down in my place in front of Carl.

"Control issues." I say with a sigh. Daryl laughs a little.

"ZombieLand?" He asks and I nod sheepishly.

"Alright Rick, she's good. Anyone who uses the rules from ZombieLand has to be good." He nods, still a little apprehensive to trust me.

"Try anything and we're leaving you to the walkers." I nod.

"Son, did you get her name?" Rick asks.

"Kind of. She wants to be called California because that's where she wants to go and she doesn't really remember her name." I scratch the back of my head awkwardly as he looks at me.

"So, California, do you know everyone's name?"

"Pretty sure. And may I please have all my weapons back? Please?" I did puppy dog eyes. He sighs.

"Fine. But remember our deal." I nod and he gives them all back to me. I smile slightly to myself and put them where they're suppose to go. I stand up and head over to the boxes. I look through them all in search of weapons and armour. Garden tools, chainsaw, metal baseball bat, bear trap, gloves, and tons of magazines and newspapers. Good. It's a good arsenal. Everyone kinda stared at me as I got out all of these things. Carl snapped his fingers while was analyzing everyone as they analyzed me. I blinked a couple times.

"Huh?" I was kinda dazed after that.

"We asked you what were you doing?"

"Looking for weapons. Rule 18 remember?" I said and smirked really quickly before returning to my search.

"The herd is gone." Rick said looking out the window and down the street. I looked over at him and grabbed some old binoculars that I found with the baseball bat. I walked over and looked out the window. I moved the binoculars down the street and the herd was still pretty close.

"No. Not far enough. They're still pretty close to your cars and motorcycle. They're still moving, but slowly, so we should be safe by morning." I say while walking around, looking in boxes for some blankets. I finally found a box labeled 'Bedding' and threw everyone a couple blankets.

"Better get comfy." They looked at me weirdly.

"Better safe than sorry." I mumble before going over to the corner by the window.

"I'll take the first shift." Daryl says.

"Can I trust you?"

"Yea. You can trust me." He walked over and ruffled my hair. They all laughed a little and I smiled shyly. Daryl walks over to the hatchway and sits. I turn my back to everyone.

"May I sleep here?" I turn slightly to see Carl. He had a smile on his face.

"Sure." I say. He lays down beside me.

"Goodnight California." He said. I smiled widely.

"Goodnight Carl." After those words left my lips, I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

`.

.

.

Alright, I lied. It wasn't very peaceful. My amazing dream turned into a nightmare. It's always the same dream too. My family dying in front of me, and me getting blamed. I guess it was Rick's turn for the shift. (You thought it would be Carl didn't you? X3) I woke up to him shaking me slightly.

"Hey. What's wrong? You were turning an awful lot." Rick said, obviously concerned. I brought my knees to my chest and hid my face. I didn't want to show weakness, but it's hard having to relive that horrid scene night after night.

"Nothing. I'm fine." He didn't listen to me and rubbed my back soothingly.

"It's alright California. You're safe with us."

"Thanks Rick." I mumbled into my knees. I stood up weakly and grabbed a slingshot. Rick watched as I went out the window. I can't go back to sleep, I won't go back to sleep. I picked up a few pebbles and shot them at a few roaming fleshies. I guess the kids liked to throw pebbles on the roof, there's loads. The slingshot was pretty accurate, but it took me a couple tries to kill them. Just to be sure, I hit them a bunch of times in the head with the remaining pebbles. I look up at the sky and lay down. The stars and moon calmed me. I know I was safe. I eventually fell into a dreamless sleep. Thank god.

"C...for..a." What the hell? Was it morning already? Someone was trying to wake me up I guess.

"Cal...orn..a"

"What?" I said but it came out garbled and sounded like a moan.

"We're going to head back to our camp. C'mon." I sat up and rubbed my eyes. A huge yawn escaped my throat and I stood up. I somehow ended up at the front door.

"Wait. The weapons in the attic." I ran as fast as I could and gathered up all the weapons in a box. Daryl helped me bring them down.

"Where are we headed?" I asked, kinda curious. I grabbed a duffel bag of food and Carl grabbed the other one, while Daryl grabbed their weapon bag.

"To everyone else in our group." Rick said. I nodded, my curiosity not satisfied, and we filed into a car. Daryl took the motorcycle, being the badass that he is.

"Wait… Where's Michonne?" I asked looking around.

"She went off to find other things."

"And you left her alone?!" I said, raising my voice a little.

" has a great strategy and she went to go find some things to entertain you guys." Rick said. I nodded. Rick had Carl and I sit in the back with the weapons in case of an attack. Nobody talked for 10 minutes, so I decided to take a swig of soda, which kinda backfired since I burped really loudly. Carl looked at me in shock and Rick chuckled.

"Excuse me." I said with a slightly blush. Carl held up his fist and I flinched a little. Dammit. He looked confused and shrugged it off.

"Nice. That's the first manly burp I've ever heard come from a girl." I bumped his fist and smirked.

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment." We went another 10 minutes without talking and then Carl spoke up.

"So, Cali. Why do you wanna go to California? I heard it's pretty much a wasteland." Wait. What? I didn't hear that. Where. What? How? My mind felt like it was about to explode. My eyes well up with tears and I wiped them away with a sniff. A small sob seemed to escape my lips and Carl heard it. He moved to the middle and held me in his arms in attempts to soothe me.

"Hey I'm sorry. I didn't know." He grabbed my chin to make me look at him. Several tears ran down my face and clouded my vision.

"D-Don't worry. I-It's not y-your fault. Y-You didn't k-know. B-Besides. If y-you didn't t-tell me then I w-would have d-d-died." I wiped away my tears. "My uncle lived there. He would take me over there during the summer and would call me when my parents got into fights. He was pretty cool. I wanted to see him one last time before the world got to him." I mumbled into his chest. I calmed down after a few minutes. Carl looked down at me sympathetically. I wiped the tears out of my eyes and he hugged me tightly. It was… Nice. I only ever got these hugs from mom and those stopped around 6 years since I've had a real hug. It's comforting to know that he cares.

"It's going to be okay, you have us now." Carl said while rubbing my back. I listened to the sound of his heartbeat, and it soon lulled me to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

I awoke to the smell of rotting flesh. It was dark and Carl and Rick were asleep in the front while I was sprawled out in the back. I lifted my head a little and saw a glimpse of zombie flesh. I put my legs on the floor, my curiosity spiking. I listed all the pros and cons of what could happen if I took a little peak. Well. Some of the things were a little out there but hey. The zombie virus is real so nothing is too far-fetched. I laid on the floor and slowly got up and moved a cloth that was covering the window a little to the side. I gasped and quickly let go of the fabric. There was a herd passing us and somehow… Not noticing us? I looked around and saw guts all over the windshield. Well that would explain the smell. I guess they put the guts all over so the car would smell like death and they wouldn't notice! That's brilliant. Great trick for going out too. I heard a gun cock behind me and I quickly drew my knife. I looked around and saw Daryl amongst our many weapons in the trunk area type thingy. He was laying on a few sheets and he smirked.

"'Bout time you woke up Cali." He sat up a little and I nodded, smiling a little. "How'd you sleep?" I shrugged and my eyes darted to each moan.

"No need to worry 'bout the walkers. We smeared guts around and left the bodies around the car." I relaxed knowing now that they put bodies around the car too. I heard someone inhale deeply and I turned around to see Carl moving around trying to get comfy. I chuckled.

"Ya know he really cares about you. He threw a fit when we were going to wake you. Something about needing your sleep since you barely got any. He said we shouldn't leave you alone either so Rick and I had to gather up the walkers. But apparently you fell asleep on him, so we pulled over while he held you. Then this herd started coming so he laid you in the back and got in the front to help us with ammo. He fell asleep there, as you see." I blushed slightly. Had he really done that? He's such a sweetheart. He laid back down and I did as well. I looked over to Carl and smiled. He took another inhale of breath and woke.

"Hey Cali. What are you doing up?" He asked groggily. I propped myself up on my elbow.

"Oh you know. Same old."

"Nightmare?" I nodded. He stood up and sat down by my legs.

"Wanna talk about it?" I sat up and shrugged.

"Maybe. Or maybe I can tell you later." I said playfully. He laughed slightly.

"Well. Do you want a hug?" I nodded and he pulled me into a hug. Should I ask for him to sleep with me? (Not in that way) Well., maybe. I mean he makes me feel safe and all but would that be weird? I started blushing at the thoughts that run through this head of mine.

"What are you thinking about?" Carl's voice brings me out of my insanity.

"Well. Everything I guess." He nodded and let go of me. He started getting back into his seat.

"W-Wait." I grabbed his wrist. He looked back at me with an inquiring gaze.

"Yea?" I gulped and blinked rapidly. I scratched the back of my head.

"Would you mind… Sleeping with me? You take the nightmares away." I say the last part kind of quietly.

"Sure." He smiled and I grinned.

"Thanks." He laid down and I laid down next to him. He pulled me into his chest and I gasped slightly, startled from his sudden movement.

"Sweet dreams Cali. I hope I can take away your nightmares." I chuckled slightly and I was soon falling asleep to his rhythmic heartbeat. I actually had a nice dream, a memory of when I was little and happy.

Carl woke me up when we arrived at a huge house. Well small mansion. Carl was already sitting up and my head was in his lap, I was looking at him. I shot up at the sound of something making a loud noise and my head collided with his chin. I held my head and he held his chin, but laughed it off.

"Sorry."

"It's fine." I smile and jumped out of the car. I ran to the door to inspect the area. A lady with short brown hair opened it as soon as I was about to open it. She was shocked, I was too, and pulled a gun on me.

"Who are you and why are you here?" I put my hands up in submission and I backed up

into someone. I turn around and it was Carl. I blush slightly. The girl still had the gun pointed at my head.

"Who is she?" I was looking around and saw the car door still open. I guess Carl read my mind because he grabbed my wrist and led me into the mansion, as Rick was explaining why I was there and blah, blah, boring stuff. I was inspecting the place as we walked through it and we ended up in a kitchen.

"Sit." He said pointing to a chair.

"So. I guess I'm a dog now." I replied as I sat down. He laughed while getting whatever he was getting.

"Oh hush." I smirked.

"Woof." We both burst out laughing. He got out a pot and poured two cans of Spaghettios in the pot. He turned on the stove.

"Yummy. Processed." I said sarcastically. He gave me a look that read 'quiet at least it's food.' And I shot him a look that read 'it's barely edible.' And lastly, 'at least it's edible' look.

"Did we just have a conversation by looking at eachother?" I asked while laughing.

"I guess so." He laughed too. This was great. It's the end of the world but we are still able to laugh. I tried to remember when the last time I laughed this much was. It must have been when I was around 8 or 9. I started tapping my foot to a random tune that's in my head. I guess I had spaced out since I didn't notice Carl poking my nose.

"You in there?" I laugh and shove him back a little. He points to the bowl in front of me and hands me a spoon.

"Thanks."

"Let's eat." We started eating. While we were eating the girl from before came in with an asian dude who was holding a child? I feel bad for that child. She sat down.

"I'm sorry. It's just that it's kinda know who to trust since we've been through so much." She looks sad. I guess they've been through some shit.

"It's fine really. I understand." I say shyly and I continue eating. She smiled.

"Well. Now that that's over, let me introduce you to everyone. I'm Maggie, that's Glenn," Asian man waved, "And this is Judith. There is a girl around here with blonde hair, her name is Beth." I looked at Judith and she smiled and made baby noises. Aw.

"I'm California, but you can call me Cali." I shoveled the food in my mouth, a little irritated at the questions.

"Is that your real name?" Maggie asked. Carl sensed my frustration and gave me a look that read 'keep eating.' So I happily obliged.

"She doesn't remember her name since she's been alone for a while and that's where she wants to go." I stopped listening to him and my mind wandered to what they could have been through. When I pulled myself out of my thoughts, I stood up to go wash my dish. Carl looked at me and said something.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I asked with a slight tilt of my head. He smiled.

"I asked if you wanted help."

"Eh. Why not." I say with a smile.

"So. You were spacing out again I'm guessing?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just thinking." I said, beginning to wash my dish.

"You seem to do that an awful lot." He's concerned. I can hear it in his voice.

"Yea. There's just a lot to think about, plus I don't anything to keep me focused so I'm all over the place." I had him the dish I just washed and he started drying it, I decided to wash his too.

"Just be careful okay?" Aw, he's worried. How sweet.

"Alright and oh! Thanks for saving my back there." I say. I handed him the dish I just washed.

"No problem. I figured that since you were eating you wouldn't want to be bothered."

"Well you were right, so thanks." I sat on the counter, drying off my hands with a towel.

"Allow me to show you to your room." Carl said, mocking a butler. I giggled and got off the counter.

"Why thank you, my good sir." I say, playing along. We burst out laughing. After we stopped laughing, I pretended to wipe a tear from my eye.

"Alright, I really should show you to your room now." Carl said. What was suppose to be showing me my room, ended up being a tour.

"This is a game room with board games, sadly. That's my dad's bedroom, Maggie and Glenn's room. Weapon room. There's a shooting range in the basement. My room, and your room." I was across the hall from him. Cool.

"I have a stash of candy next door in the food storage. And there's a couple of towers around with guns and snipers in them if you want to be alone and shout to get anger out. There's also blanket in there in case you want to sleep there." He smiled and I smiled, his smile was contagious. I went into my room and looked around. A huge curtain peaked my interest, so I went over to it and opened it. There was a balcony that overlooked the woods and front door. I took a big breath in and sighed contently, as I laid my hand on my cheek. This reminds me of Romeo and Juliet and the balcony scene. I found it once and I got bored so I read it. Too bad there's no Romeo. I stood there for a while, I even sat on the rail as I watched the sunset. I've noticed quite a few things as I sat there on the rail. I eventually went inside since it was starting to get cold. After warming up under the covers, I walked over to Carl's room and knocked on the door.

"What. Oh.. Hey Cali." His face just went from annoyed to happy real fast. I wonder what ticked him off.

"I was wondering if I could get a towel and some clothes?" I asked shyly. I looked down at my feet, playing with the hem of my shirt.

"I can get you a towel, but I can't help with the clothes… Unless you want to wear boy clothes." He says with a smile. I contemplate wearing boy clothes for a little and I smile.

"Thanks. Maybe I can go ask Maggie." He grabbed a towel and handed it to me.

"Never been used." We laugh and I thank him once again and head over to Maggie's room. I don't know if I had heard right, or if I was just hearing things, but I could have sworn I heard Carl say 'anything for you.' Weird. I was soon in front of Maggie's room. I knocked and she greeted me with a smile.

"Hey Cali. What's up?

"Are you doing laundry? Because I need to borrow some clothes… Mine are dirty." I said in a small voice.

"Well, Rick's doing a load right now, and I don't have anything that could fit you." She said. I sighed.

"Thanks anyway." I say. She bites her lip.

"Wait. There's a mall not too far away. What size are you?" I looked at her and smiled.

"Well, a 0 or 1 for pants, medium for shirts." I say. Then she pulls me into the room and looks around before closing the door.

"And what's your bra size?" I blush. "Sorry but I figured that you don't want to keep wearing the same bra." She explained.

"I-I'm a 36 C." Oh look at that. The floor looks interesting. She looked me over.

"I use gauze since I can't ever find my size." I explain. She nodded.

"Got it. I'll get it for you tomorrow okay?" I thanked her and went back to Carl.

"Hey."

"Hi. Can I borrow your clothes after all?" I ask. He smiles.

"Sure." He hands me some clothes and I thank him. I return to my room to take my shower. Once I get in the bathroom, I turn on the water and get in. This person used some really expensive things that I would have loved to afford. After I shower, I decide that I need to take a bath. My muscles ached so this would help. I look around and see that the closet is open. While the tub is filling up, maybe I could snoop around. I opened the door more and see a butt load of different shampoos and conditioners. There was so much stuff. What is this? Bath bomb? Okay that makes me scared, so I put it down. No one is around, so maybe I could sing. Music helps me relax, so I guess I can just make my own.

"Did you think that I, did you think that I? Would fall down flat on my face. Did your smug remarks ever reach the heart? Pretentious poised in place. OMG look at me, all I wanna be, is just like him. Filthy mean filthy scene slowly spiraling down into the drain. Two sleepless weeks is all that it takes to find, foundations worth the time of our lives." (Song is Reply by set it off.) I heard someone knock. Oh no. Did they hear me singing? Probably. Hopefully they don't ask.

"Cali? Was that you singing?" It was Maggie. I should probably get out, I'm pruney. So I wrap the towel around me and drain the tub. I quickly dress into the clothes that Carl gave me and I comb through my hair, parting it. It was a harry potter t-shirt that looked like it hadn't been worn and sweatpants. I guess the guy who lived here liked to be comfy, or his son did at least. I walk out and Maggie stands.

"Was that you singing?" I nod sheepishly.

"Yea. Sorry was I loud?" I asked. She nodded.

"Carl and I heard it. You're really good ya know." She says.

"Thanks." Then I walk out to the balcony. I need to be alone. That was kinda embarrassing. I know that he said something about towers. I hop over the rail and gently go down the ivy by the doors. I ran to the closest tower and went up. I had to go through a few flights of stairs and a ladder until I opened a hatchway to the top. I found a couple guns, a pillow, and blankets. There was a lot of ammo, that's always good.

I put the box of guns over the hatchway, it was heavy. I started to shoot the fleshies that were coming out of the woods. I shot each of them twice, double tap. I ended up laying down on the pillows, I was tired. I eventually fell asleep.

I woke up in a cold sweat. Damn nightmares. There was a blanket on me. I don't remember grabbing a blanket. I looked around and saw that Carl was sleeping. How did he get here? I looked at the hatchway and saw that the guns were everywhere. Guess he's stronger than I thought. I put my blanket on him and grabbed a gun. I put a silencer on it and looked around through the sight. There were quite a few walkers around the entrance gate, maybe I should kill them? Yea. Once that chore was done, I put the gun down and lean against the rail. I'm looking out at the woods. It's really pretty. I close my eyes and small breeze whips my hair back. It's quite peaceful. I heard Carl's footsteps and he appears next to me.

"Hey." I say. He rubs his eyes.

"Hi." He says. His voice is husky since he just woke up.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked him.

"Okay. How about you?" I played with my fingers.

"Fine, I guess." I say. He looks over to me.

"What's wrong?" He's worried.

"Nothing."

"Really?"

"Yup." I say popping the 'p'. He stands up straight and takes a few steps towards me. I stand up straight as well and face him. He was making me anxious, what was he going to do?

"Are you sure?" His voice is just above a whisper, as though people could be listening.

"Mhm." I say. Hopefully he doesn't see through me, but I'm pretty sure he can.

"You can trust me Cali." He says, stepping closer. I can feel his breath on my skin and I have to look away. I need to calm my heartbeat. I'm not used to people being that close to me, well boys.

"I know, but I really don't want to voice my thoughts." I say quietly. Carl sighs and backs up a little bit. "But thanks for caring." I say. He smiles a little bit. When Carl is about to say something, we hear a scream. We look at eachother, and run to the rail. The gate is open. Fleshies are getting in. But how? Did someone leave it open? I clench my jaw, I have to help. I have to make a plan.

"What are we going to do?" Carl asked turning towards me.

"Go help everyone defend the house. I will see how many more there are. I'll help close the gate." I say. He nods, grabs the things he needs and goes down to fight. I grab the roof and lift myself up on to the roof. I'm happy I still work out. I take out a sight that I took and looked for where they were coming from. Woah. There's a huge herd. I look up and see a helicopter going over the house. So it led them here? I gotta buy us time, I need to tell them. What's in the yard that I can use to stop them from coming? Small car. Shed. Garden supplies. Truck. Bus. Tress. Wait… Bus. It's big enough to cover the gate. Now to get over there. I have to wait for the small break in between the two groups of fleshies. There it is! I jump on to the wall and I bolt to the gate. I close it with some help from everyone.

"Kill the fleshies while I get the bus!" I say. They looked confused, but there's no time to explain. Once I get to the bus, I pry open the door. The keys are still in it. I try to start it, but it's dead. Dammit. Not good. I get out and look under the hood. How can I quickly jump start it? The little car is close. I look in it and find cables in the back. I hook it up to the bus and start the engine. While that's going, I start the bus. The engine is alive. Yes! I unhook the cables. I put it in reverse and honk. Yes I taught myself how to drive. Everyone moves and I turn quickly. As soon as I do it I regret it. Why can I never think my plan through? I'm so reckless. The bus flips and the last thing I remember is someone screaming my name before I black out.


	3. Chapter 3

"Cali!" I scream as I see the bus flip over. The top was blocking the gate and glass was everywhere. Why would she do something so reckless! I run up to the bus and I try to open up the doors. They didn't budge.

"Someone! Please! Help! Dad Please!" I guess everyone was in a huge state of shock and I knocked them out of it. They all come over and we try to pry open the crushed doors. They end up opening and I see her on the ground with cuts and glass sticking out of her. I see her chest rise and fall,which means she's alive! I pick up her lifeless figure and start to bring her to the mansion to help her.

"Carl! There's no time! We need to go now! Hurry!" I bring her to the car and run back to the mansion. We need the first aid kit and all of our stuff. It turns out everyone else decided to do that too. After I packed some stuff we all went to the food storage. Someone honks their horn to tell us to get going now. I sigh and run out to the car with some bags of food. We got most of the food which is good. Daryl took the bags out of my hands.

"You need to go and patch her up. I'll take these." I nodded to him and ran to the car. Dad starts going as soon as I close the door. I look behind us and see as the walkers push through the bus and invade the place I once called home. I tear my eyes away from the scene. Cali stirs a little and her face twists in pain. I start taking out all of the glass and bandaging her cuts, after disinfecting it all of course. I hope that we can find another place to live, we need a semi-safe place for Judith to grow up and for Cali to heal.

~~~~ Cali's P.O.V. ~~~~

I wake up on something cushy and soft. I open up my eyes and everything is blurry. I lift up my head and see that there are white things all over my arms. What are they? Bandages? Probably. I did crash that bus… I close my eyes when I hear movement. Am I in a car? Probably.

"Good morning Cali." I hear Carl say. It sounds awfully close. Wait… Am I laying on him? I look up at him to see him smiling down at me. I feel heat rise to me cheeks. Oh jeez. Then I remember why I crashed the bus.

"Is everyone okay? Did they get out safely? Is everyone here? W-" Carl cut me off by putting his hand on my mouth. He rolled his eyes a little at my exaggeration.

"Everyone is fine." He said.

"Are you sure no one got-"

"Bit or scratched? No."

"How long was I out for?" I ask.

"About a week." My eyes widen.

"WHAT THE HELL?! AND YOU DIDN'T WAKE ME!" I screamed. Rick swerved from my sudden outburst and I mumbled an apology.

"Well. You hit your head pretty hard…" Carl said. I nodded and my stomach growled. I covered my face and groaned.

"I guess you must be hungry." He chuckled., then he grabbed a can of peaches, opened it and handed it to me. I started drinking the juice and he handed me a plastic fork. I smiled and started to eat. I tried to eat slowly but not eating for a week… I devoured it to say the least. I held up the plastic fork.

"What do I do with this?" I ask Carl.

"Just chuck it." He said. So I shrug and roll down the window. I throw it out and it hits a fleshie. Heh. It looked funny as it fell. Then more started coming out of the woods. Woah. That's getting big. Did they hear the car and decided to follow? What if the car stopped? What if the engine died or we ran out of gas or or.. I'm hyperventilating. Carl looked at me, but I barely noticed since I was FREAKING OUT! God! What if they follow us all the way? What if we hit one and flip? What if-

"Cali." Carl said as he snapped his fingers in my face.

"Y-Yes?" I can feel my heartbeat speeding up.

"Are you okay? You look awfully pale." He said and felt my forehead.

"F-Fleshies. *Breath* Following us. *Breath* Car. *Breath* No gas.*Breath* What if?" I was breathing really hard now. My eyes dart around and Rick looks at me through the mirror.

"Cali. Breath slower. You're going to make yourself pass out." Rick said to me. I held my head in my hands and I try to calm myself. "Now what's going on?" He asked.

"T-There's a huge group o-of fleshies behind us." I say. Carl takes my hand and squeezes it. Somehow that calms me down more.

"Calm down. It's okay. We're going to be fine. Nothing's going to happen to us." He smiled at me and I smiled back slightly. He's a really nice friend.

"Well. Do we have enough gas? I mean what if-" Carl's hand is over my mouth again.

"We have a full gas tanks and extra gallons in the back." Rick says. Okay. I'm better now. But that doesn't stop me from worrying about getting into a crash. I lay back down on to Carl's lap and smile. He chuckles and I smiled more.

"How much longer are we going to be in the car for?" I asked. I wanted to get out, I was becoming restless. Carl could tell.

"We're headed to a small town that was about a week's worth of travel, and we kept getting delayed. So I would say we have about 6 hours left?" Rick says. I nod and space out a little. Maybe I can try and remember what my old life was like before… That thing happened. I ended up falling asleep. Oh well.

I woke up to Carl shaking me. I groaned.

"Whhhhaaaaaatttt?" I whined into my arms. I look up at him with droopy eyes and he chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" I grumbled.

"You." He smiled. I pouted.

"Cmon sleeping beauty. We're here." He said. I got up very slowly.

"I was out for 6 hours?" I questioned as I shielded my eyes from the sun. It must be around noon since it was high in the sky. I looked forward and we were in front of a cute little house. Rick was holding Judith and was sitting on the porch step.

"Hey. Did you have a good nap?" He asked me. I nodded.

"Yea. And I feel really rested for sleeping only 6 hours." Carl smiled and started laughing.

"You were asleep for like 12 hours." He said walking into the house. My jaw dropped. I WAS ASLEEP FOR 12 HOURS AND NO ONE THOUGHT TO WAKE ME UP! Well. They're gonna pay because now I'm going to be wicked hyper. Cue the evil laughter :). I heard a growl to the side of me. Rick and Carl were inside and I saw a fleshie.

"Hello there fleshie~." I say in a sing-song voice. It stumbles closer and I take out my knife. When it came too close for comfort, I plunged the knife into its eye.

"Goodnight." I say and walk away to find a big rock. I find one and then put it on the fleshie's head. I make my way to the house and see that it's cleared out. Wait. Duh, of course it is. I guess we moved in though, if I am living with them. I run upstairs and see the doors open. Me, being the curious child I am, decide to look in them.

"Hey Cali. Looking for your room?" Carl said. I jumped slightly and then nodded. So I guess I am living with them. Cool.

"Well, I'll show you. Oh, and I have to warn you. We share a room." He said. I blush. I can't share a room with a boy! Well, I'm gonna have to if I wanna live in a house but really? He leads me to our room and it only has a twin bed in it. There's not even enough room for an extra bed! Jeez. This boy will be the death of me.

"W-Well. I'm gonna go e-explore the rest of the house bye!" I say quickly and I rush out of the room down the hallway. Time to see why I have to share a room with him. I roam around and look in each room. Rick took the master bedroom, obviously, there was a crib room with a small bed and a crib, and those were the only bedrooms. There has to be a guest bedroom somewhere. I wander around and see that it has been turned into an art room, or our weapon room. No room for beds anywhere. Now I see why we have to share. I head back to my room and I don't see Carl. He must have gone somewhere. Oh well. I look around the room to see that it had a few comic books, must have been a boy's room. I reach over and grab one of the comic books. Deadpool. Heh. I smile and open it. This was my favorite comic book back when I was younger. I read it and then lay on my stomach with my feet up. It was comfortable. I got to the 3rd comic book when I hear the door open. I look up and see Carl dripping wet in a towel. My face heats up and I walk out quickly.

"S-Sorry." I say as I brush past him, cheeks flaming. I head to the kitchen with my comic book and my stomach I should raid the cupboard? Yea I should. Cereal? Nah. Peaches? Nope. Black olives? Meh. Pickles? Yes. Smiley face :)! I take out the pickles and I try to open it. I keep trying but I can't open it D: Nuuuu! I hear someone laugh and I almost drop them, but with my reflexes, I catch them. I narrow my eyes at the person and I see Carl, fully clothes this time. I should have known. I sigh.

"Want help?"He asked stepping closer to me. I shook my head.

"No. I don't want help." I keep trying to open it, and apparently I'm amusing the boy by me.

"Let me rephrase that. Do you need help?" He asked. I nodded and lowered my head in defeat.

"Don't be sad. Your hands are probably sweaty. It is summer." He gave me a smile and opened it with ease. My face lights up and he hands me the jar.

"Thank you!" I say and I take out a pickle. Yummy. I bite into it and Carl takes one. I narrow my eyes at him.

"You're lucky I like you or else you would have been dead." He smirked and took another one.

"I guess I am." I put the lid on and put it somewhere. After sitting in the living room with Carl for about 20 minutes, I got restless. I was currently hanging off of the couch, upside-down and Carl was lounging in the chair. I get up.

"Let's go on an adventure." I say as I look at him. Then I got dizzy. Whoops. I was in that position for too long.

"But it's dangerous out." He said. I looked out and saw that the sun wasn't even close to being down.

"Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaassssseeee? I need to go find a pharmacy for medicine unless you want me to be really hyper like this all the time?" I say quickly to prove my point. I poke his cheek and he looks at me. I smile and he doesn't budge. Oh well, might as well keep poking him. I wonder when he will snap?

"Fine. But! We have to go help everyone and have some people come with us." He says as he crosses his arms. I smile and then sigh. We have to have a chaperone? Not cool.

"Uggg. Whatever. Lets-a-go!" I say copying Mario. He takes my hand and leads me to where everyone was. They were in the middle of cleaning out someone's house. I think was Daryl's since his motorcycle was in the garage. I decided to help them clean it out, and Carl followed. I'm guessing everyone was upstairs so maybe I should do the basement with Carl. I opened it a little and saw nothing but a dark abyss. Hmm. I saw a screw and a bouncy ball on the stairs. I picked up the ball and bounced it down the stairs. It made a lot noise so that should lure out the fleshies. Soon after the ball landed, it was followed by moans and shuffling. I wonder how many fleshies are down there. Carl starts going down the stairs, but I grab his hand.

"What?" He asks.

"Don't go down there."

"Why not?" He asked with defiance in his voice. I bit my lip nervously.

"Because. Rule 18: Always be prepared. We probably aren't prepared because it's dark down there, we don't know how many fleshies are there, and we don't have a flashlight. Rule 10: Always have an exit. The stairs aren't that safe because you could miss a step and fall and you're dead. Let's just wait for the others. Because Rule 89: Never be the hero." We stood there in silence, well as silent as it could be with fleshies around. He pulls me into a hug, which surprises me, but I hug him back.

"Thank you for worrying about me. Looks like your silly rules come in handy." He pulled away and looked into my eyes.

"Well… It's nothing really… I just… care." I say. Wait. He's getting closer. Are we going to kiss? Might as well. It may be awkward though, I've never kissed anyone before! Wait! Calm down. I see that he's only inches from my face. He's still looking in to my eyes and I'm looking right back at him. Now we're so close that I can feel his breath on my lips. Our noses are touching, and he has his hand on my cheek. We're centimeters apart.

"Carl, Cali? What's going on here?" Someone asks. We jump apart and I blush immensely. I took a quick glance at Carl and his cheeks are red too. It was Rick. Dammit. I was actually prepared for it to happen.

"Rule 32: Enjoy the little things?" I say with a sheepish smile. I scratch the back of my head awkwardly and Rick nods. Then I hear moans coming closer. Right. Fleshies in the basement. That's a thing that's happening.

"Hey, Rick? Could you help us clean out the basement? Please?" I gave him my best puppy dog eyes and he nodded. Phew. That was close.


End file.
